Blog

These are our explorer’s notes. Everything we’ve seen on our journey so far. From wonderful moments of discovery to not so wonderful mistakes and follies. We hope you learn as much from them as we did.

Be Nice.
It won’t be the first time you heard this advice that’s for sure. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people talk about the importance of being nice to others, and how many different ways there are to say this. So, what I will share with you instead is a little story that stuck in my mind ever since the day it was told to me by the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company.
This CEO and I were in an interview and I’d just asked him a pretty standard question along the lines of, ‘What’s important to...

Explore Your Career,
Is being brought to you today by the number 3
Below you’ll find 3 sets,
Of 3 interesting career thoughts to explore
* * * *
The 3 Types of Job
How much you can do
How well you can do
How happy can you make people
The 3 Rules of Non-Performance
A person doesn’t know what to do
He or She cannot do what they have been asked to do
He or She doesn’t want to do what they are being asked to do
The 3 Stages of Every Career
Experiencing (we’re along for the ride)
Influencing (we have a say)
Defining (we set...

The thing that changes everything on a job search,
Is when you get that email or call saying Yes, You’re Hired or See You Monday Morning.
No doubt about it, ‘that call’ is a big thing.
But where does a big thing like this come from?
When you work backwards,
it becomes possible to see an unbroken chain.
An interconnected sequence of many little things, all leading us towards the main event.
The reason we get ‘the call’,
May be due to the last meeting we had just before it. A meeting that could only take place...

I like being a Careers Consultant because every conversation starts with me needing to think about what the other person wants, and carries on that way too.
When you are motivated by someone else’s needs, whatever the situation, however a conversation develops, what this actually creates is two people aligning themselves around the same goal, even if the goal is unclear at first.
The journey can be tough sometimes but having this shared objective gives us a better chance of working things out. When the going is tough – which can happen...

My most recent lightbulb moment happened this morning, so I thought I’d tell you about it.
I talk to lots of people about their careers but I make a point of keeping a close eye on my own career too.
I’ve always thought it would be crazy to spend all of my time asking other people what they want, and never to think about this for myself.
[How would I ever know what other people were thinking or feeling if I shied away from the big career questions, or pretended they didn’t affect me just because I work in careers?]
Last...

Sweat brings opportunity your way.
When you’re willing to sweat, it doesn’t matter what the person next to you is doing.
In fact, you can revel in their success, their good fortune and their achievements,
Because you’re doing everything you can.
On every career development journey,
Sweat is much more than muscle & hard work.
Sweat is the hard yards, the tough breaks, the big lessons, the huge adjustments,
Along with the fortitude and flexibility to deal with it all.
To sweat for your career is to know you are...

I now have a copy of Kellen Hatanaka’s Work*
The book is a beautifully illustrated ABC of familiar and unfamiliar occupations.
I think we need more books like Work, which I liken to the incredible Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss.
Books like this put a smile on your face, but they also remind us there’s more than one way to look at work and careers.
– – – – –
Like Dr. Seuss before him, Kellen Hatanaka reminds us there is so much to learn.
Each job, each profession, every different...

Just in case you’re not already a subscriber, Here’s our first update, Sent earlier today…
Hello Career Explorers!
This is our first ever subscription email. (Can you tell?)
If you like it, great! (TY & Bless Your heart!)
If you don’t like it, tell me what you would like and watch me listen & learn.
In a nutshell, that’s what exploring your career is about – listening & learning.
As long as you can listen & learn, your career will go from strength to...

Every now and then, I find something ‘career-related’ that really stops me in my tracks – Borntobuild.org.uk did just that a few weeks ago. I found Born to Build interesting from the start. The whole site is focused on sharing experience, with individual people telling personal career stories. Plus the whole BtB approach supports our twin career passions of exploring and learning. All this meant I had to find out more, so I got one of the very friendly people behind Born to Build to answer a few questions and tell...

Here is my recent review of the new career book, ‘Improvise‘ by Fred Cook. In short, I enjoyed reading this book and think it makes a refreshing addition to any careers library.
Gutsy & Smart!
This is a gutsy book on leadership & career development and in my opinion there should be more like it. Maybe there aren’t many CEOs with similar levels of ‘unconventional behaviour’ in their past. But I’m willing to bet there are plenty who got themselves in and out of the same kind of scrapes Fred Cook shares in this...